My friend Natalie had a birthday this week and when we were on the phone I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and her reply was “crepes or croissants.” Croissants are way too complicated but I’d be glad to make a crepe recipe for her – and for YOU. So Happy Birthday Natalie – I hope you love these.

Now about Palacsinta (we pronounce then palachinkin), as you may have figured out from previous posts, my background is Hungarian. On weekends when my grandmother would come to visit, Sunday mornings she would make Palacsinta. She would stand at the stove using 3 small skillets at a time turning out palachinkin as fast as a machine – but never could she keep up with our almost super human ability to pack them away. After a while she would give up and add a little flour to the remaining batter, than add cut up apples or bananas and make what she called fritters but in reality was more of a German apple (or banana) pancake. I don’t think Grandma actually ever got to eat any of it – unless she snuck (is that a word?) one or two while she was at the stove – cause she surely never sat down at the table. She was a great lady (and fabulous cook), my Grandma.

As you can see from the photos there are 2 ways of making crepes – logs or chevrons. The logs are the Hungarian presentation, the chevrons which are French (though they do logs as well) are easier to handle.

You can use this recipe to make savory crepes as well – just omit the sweetener.

Palacsinta (Hungarian Dessert Crepes)

When making Palacsinta, it’s best not to be overly generous with the filling as the flavor of the crepes should be the star, not the filling. You can also vary the fillings – use nutella, or fruit pie filling, or lektvar (prune butter), or anything you can think of.

3/4 cup milk replacement (I used vanilla soy milk. If you are using unsweetened milk replacement you may want to add a little extra sweetener)

1. Place the milk, flour, egg, butter/oil, sweetener, vanilla, and salt into a blender container or food processor fitted with a steel blade. Cover and process until smooth (don’t overdo it you want to keep the foam to a minimum) Let stand 30 minutes.

2. While the batter is standing, sieve the apricot preserves (or puree in a food processor).

3. Heat a 7 or 8-inch non-stick slope-sided skillet, over medium heat, until a drop of water dances across the surface before evaporating. Brush lightly with oil (you only have to do this for the first crepe). Pour a pool of batter into the middle of the pan and tilt, rotating the pan, so that the batter spreads to cover the bottom of the pan.

5. Cook until the top of the crepe is no longer wet, and the edges are browned. Gently turn the crepe, and cook second side until browned in spots – less than a minute.

6. If serving immediately, place a dollop of the preserves in the center of the crepe and spread with the back of a spoon to make a strip the length of the crepe. Roll the crepe and place on serving dish. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.

7. If preparing the crepes ahead of time, place the finished crepes on pieces of wax paper and stack them one on top of the other until all the crepes have been made. Wrap in aluminum foil and refrigerate or freeze until needed.